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Cons:

"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost..." begins the old nursery rhyme that ends with the fall of an entire kingdom. It's a rhyme that's often been used to explain the concept of alternative history in which small changes play out very differently in the broad sweep of historical events. The chance to dramatically alter history lies at the heart of the appeal of Paradox Interactive's Europa Universalis: Rome. Could Pyrrhus have avoided his "Pyrrhic victory" and strangled the young Roman Republic? Could Carthage have avoided destruction and beaten the Italian upstarts? Could Mark Antony have ousted Octavian and become the first Roman Emperor? Unfortunately, the old rhyme also details the unfortunate consequences of missing small details and that, too, perfectly describes Europa Universalis: Rome, an often-brilliant game that falls down because of a host of tiny details.

The premise of Europa Universalis: Rome is enough to make any wannabe Caesar delight. The game is an old-school hardcore grand strategy title that divides the world around the Mediterranean into provinces and accurately simulates the historical layout of the major and minor political players in the region from about the time of the First Punic War (around 264 BC) through the triumph of the first Roman Emperor Augustus in 27 BC. Players can choose to begin at any point during that 250-year span and control the destiny of any of the major or minor powers that existed at the time. From there players will control their empire, raising armies, conducting diplomacy with foreigners, doing research for new technology, conducting wars and navigating the intra-empire politics of their most powerful citizens.

The breadth and scope of the game is very impressive, allowing players to set their own priorities and goals. However, players new to the series might be put off by the lack of an official "win" condition and a very slow gameplay pace. In our games, we tried conquering the world as the Seleucids, uniting the fractious Greek nations, colonizing the British Isles, and finally getting past Hadrian's Wall. Those scenarios only scratch the surface of the endless possibilities available in Europa Universalis: Rome and once players wrap their heads around the need to set their own victory conditions, the game offers almost unlimited replayability as one game gives rise to the need to try slightly different scenarios just to see how history might have played out.

One of the smartest decisions the designers at Paradox made in regards to Europa Universalis: Rome was to streamline the layers of management that players have to deal with in running their empire. While other grand-strategy titles have elaborate economic and tactical military levels, EU: Rome instead chooses to represent these aspects of empire as a few simple sliders with troop icons divided between a few basic military types like light and heavy infantry, missile troops and cavalry. Instead the game's strategic model is based on managing both the internal and external politics of their nation and uses troops and trade as von Clausewitz's "politics by other means" -- extensions of the political goals of the country.

In practice, this makes the game feel like a highly detailed and elaborate version of Diplomacy, as powers and power-blocs jockey against each other, shoving borders back and forth in often indecisive wars of attrition and cultural/religious conquest. Much of the player's remaining time is taken up managing the internal politics of their country. The game models a series of leading citizens that can be placed into various positions such as provincial governors, research directors or army generals. Each of these characters has a series of personality traits, skills, loyalties or rivalries with other characters based on family or other considerations. This is all great fun as players juggle bitter hatreds and cultural prejudices in order to achieve their grand strategic considerations. Give a popular general control of veteran troops that are loyal to him personally and you may be setting yourself up for a civil war upon the election of a Consul from a rival family.